The 20 things that make a Mauritius rental earn more.
The list I check on every property. Every number comes from real bookings in Mauritius.
The price
Give winter and summer different prices
June to September is winter here. A price that is right for December is too high for August, and the right price for August gives December away. On one large house: zero weekend requests in a month at about Rs 32,000 a night in winter, then ten nights confirmed for November at Rs 27,000.
Change prices every week, not once a year
Demand moves with school holidays, flights and events. A calendar priced once in January is already wrong by March.
Let long stays in during winter
A two-bedroom apartment in Tamarin took 113 nights in its first five months. Four stays of two to three weeks made 75 of them. One arrival, one cleaning, weeks of calendar covered.
Shorten the minimum stay close to the date
A three-night minimum makes sense months ahead. Inside fourteen days an empty night earns nothing, so drop it to two.
Price the gaps
Two nights stranded between two bookings will not sell at the full rate. Discount them or they stay empty.
Open the calendar a year ahead
Families plan August a year before. One nine-night August stay I hold was booked eleven months in advance.
The listing
One cover photo that earns the click
It is the only thing a guest sees in the search results. Daylight, the view or the pool, and nothing else in the frame.
Write the title for its first 32 characters
That is what shows on a phone. Lead with what makes the place different, not with the word beautiful.
Put the photos in the order a guest walks
Arrival, living room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, outside. Every question answered before it is asked.
Tick every amenity that is true, and none that is not
Guests filter by pool, air conditioning, workspace and parking. A missing tick hides the listing. A wrong one costs a refund.
Say the awkward thing clearly
One parking space for two flats, a steep drive, a noisy road. Reviews that drop to four stars usually mention something the listing never said.
Guests and platforms
Answer within the hour
Guests write to several places at once and book the first one that answers properly.
Protect the first five reviews
A new listing is ranked on them. Whatever a guest mentions, fix it that week.
Do not launch at high-season prices in low season
A new listing gets extra visibility in its first weeks. Spend that at a price nobody books and it does not come back.
Make expensive Booking.com stays non-refundable or partly prepaid
On one large house, three of the first six Booking.com reservations were cancelled, including one of fifteen nights. Free cancellation invites people to reserve first and decide later.
Use two platforms only with linked calendars
A double booking costs more than the second platform earns in a season.
The money
Know what reaches you
Across the properties I work on, owners keep about 72 rupees of every 100 booked, before their own running costs. The booking total is not your income.
Read the commission lines
Airbnb takes 15.5% plus VAT, which makes 17.8%. Booking.com takes 15%, a 1.5% payment fee, and VAT on both, which makes 19%.
Register for the tourist fee
Since October 2025 every guest aged twelve or over pays €3 a night. The owner registers with the MRA, and files and pays it every month.
Ask for a statement every month
Bookings, commission, fees, repairs, what reached you, and what each open night earned. Without it you cannot judge the property as an asset.
Want these checked on your property?
Send me the listing link. You get the fourteen points back, pass or fail for each. It is free.